I don't know anything about Monks (Help!)

[wO-_-OdrOw]

But I have a friend who is thinking about playing one. I'm going to try and showcase some things to him. He will be LEVEL ELEVEN (ECL13) with his race being Githzerai.

Things that I need help highlighting:

-Getting UA damage dice up.
-Getting Stunning Fist save up and tweaking stunning fist (I know you can make it ranged somehow).
-Disabling; tripping, grappling, disarming.
-Miscellaneous tips and tricks.

If you're willing to help, please cite source material. If you just want to throw down a link to a build, that's fine, too. I can usually dismantle them and figure out what information is there. Thanks, guys! 

[Solo]

Invest ranks in UMD, buy partially charged wands.

[Dictum Mortuum]

Invest ranks in UMD, buy partially charged wands.

You are an evil person

[Lycanthromancer]

In before swordsage (cuz, y'know, swordsage).

[McPoyo]

Fist of the Forest, from Complete Champion, is a nifty three level dip you should try to slip in there somewhere.

[BruceLeeroy]

The Monk class is 2 levels long.



As long as you remember that, it becomes difficult to ruin the character. If you forget that, your character is ruined.

[Saxony]

The Monk class is 2 levels long.



As long as you remember that, it becomes difficult to ruin the character. If you forget that, your character is ruined.

Addendum:

The Monk class is either 0 levels long or 2 levels long.

Otherwise, BruceLeeroy's statement is true. Do not take more than 2 levels of Monk.

[BruceLeeroy]

The Monk class is 2 levels long.



As long as you remember that, it becomes difficult to ruin the character. If you forget that, your character is ruined.

Addendum:

The Monk class is either 0 levels long or 2 levels long.

Otherwise, BruceLeeroy's statement is true. Do not take more than 2 levels of Monk.

Also, don't forget the variant monk classes found here: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantcharacterclasses.htm and the other available from sources such as Dragon Mag. They rescue what is otherwise a strictly mediocre class.

It's still only 2 levels long.

Edit: to be more helpful, stacking size increases is the best way to get good unarmed damage. Monk's Belt (DMG), Superior Unarmed Strike (ToB), Improved Natural Attack (MM), Expansion (www.d20srd.org), Fist of the Forest (CC) and...I think there might be one or two more I'm forgetting. But that's most of them.

[JaronK]

He hasn't really specified a power level... so it's possibly fine to take more than two levels.  Not all games involve wild shaping Druids and such.  For example, Monk 6/Shou Disciple 5/Kensai 9 (or Unarmed Swordsage 4/Master of Nine 5 for those last 5 levels) is a perfectly functional mid power level character.

-Getting UA damage dice up.

There are a variety of ways of doing this without taking lots of Monk.  Classes like Fist of the Forest and Shou Disciple will boost damage while giving better benefits than the Monk class.  Unarmed Swordsage does this while giving a great deal of useful abilities, and doesn't require Monk levels at all.  The Taleshtora (sp?) feat lets you increase damage with the Psychic Warrior class, which helps a lot.

-Getting Stunning Fist save up and tweaking stunning fist (I know you can make it ranged somehow).

Eh, probably not worth doing too much.  But you could consider lowering your opponent's saves.

-Disabling; tripping, grappling, disarming.

Disarming is virtually useless.  Grappling is far too situational and requires a lot of investment to make it work, and Monks really aren't suited to it (you want to be able to get bigger, like a Psychic Warrior with Expansion or a Druid with Wild Shape).  Tripping can be fun, but again getting bigger is a huge deal... you'll need to use Taleshtora or some other method of getting a lot bigger if you want to use that a lot.

-Miscellaneous tips and tricks.

The big issue here that people are hinting at without explaining is that the Monk class itself really isn't very strong, so if the rest of your group has powerful characters you'll have to work to catch up.  A lot of the Monk abilities really don't matter much especially at high levels.  But if you focus on getting a lot of attacks and hitting hard, you can make things happen.  Just don't expect Slow Fall and what not to help too much.

JaronK

[wO-_-OdrOw]

@ Basically everyone. You're morons; Monk is a zero to ONE level dip.

@ Basically everyone. This is for a game that has run since 2nd Edition, converted to 3.0, and 3.5. One of our characters just got pwned creamed wtfowned and due to RP purposes, has to remake with a Githzerai. Because the party is terrible and the stuff we face is terrible and our DM is drunk by the time we get to crucial rounds, I figured I'd help the friend to build a monk because of its' badness. All of the other players think raising caster level to cast fireballs in the two-digit d6's is broken. So, as Jaron said, it only matters what the rest of the part is like and this one has: 13 Cleric, 10 Beguiler, 10 Rogue, 10 Archery Fighter, 1/4/1/2/1 Random Stuff (we call him 'The Fool'). Doesn't sound like the worst party in the world, but when you have stuff like "Iron Will" and "Improved Reflexes" on the Fighter... Or a cleric that throws javelins (with no kind of focusing in that direction) on his turns...

Disarming is virtually useless.

 

In this game it's probably "broken."

Grappling is far too situational and requires a lot of investment to make it work, and Monks really aren't suited to it (you want to be able to get bigger, like a Psychic Warrior with Expansion or a Druid with Wild Shape).

Run up to a Wizard (IN ONE OF OUR GAMES) and tell them it's useless. They'll never think of a way to get out.

Tripping can be fun, but again getting bigger is a huge deal... you'll need to use Taleshtora or some other method of getting a lot bigger if you want to use that a lot.

Yes, yes, everyone knows bigger monks are better. I'm just so unfamiliar with them that I don't know common methods of getting bigger, though I doubt he'd want to go past large. Have a Cleric ready to enlarge him. I don't think damage will be a problem. As long as he's doing 4-5 swings at 3d6+STR he'll be on par with the rest of the party.

Eh, probably not worth doing too much.  But you could consider lowering your opponent's saves.

This sounds exactly like the direction he'd like to go into. Stunning fist is one of those things that suck. Well, how good can we make it suck? I swear you can bump the range, DC, and make it do different things/get more uses of it.

[dna1]

Monks are pretty stat intensive, and weak. There best thing is the speed increase IMO.

If your looking for a grappler here is a awesome wiz build for one    http://tgdmb.com/viewtopic.php?t=13119
Or barb/warblade maybe? The problem is unless you have a way to increase size.. grappling can be useless in many situations.

If your looking for a disabler that screams caster imo.

Overall I would say that Anything your looking to do with your monk, can be done better and easier with something else. (unless its move really fast   )


and if we are all morons, then why did you ask for help here in the first place? 

[dna1]

Grappling is far too situational and requires a lot of investment to make it work, and Monks really aren't suited to it (you want to be able to get bigger, like a Psychic Warrior with Expansion or a Druid with Wild Shape).

Run up to a Wizard (IN ONE OF OUR GAMES) and tell them it's useless. They'll never think of a way to get out.

thats because the wizards in your games must be morons 

[Zemyla]

Grappling is far too situational and requires a lot of investment to make it work, and Monks really aren't suited to it (you want to be able to get bigger, like a Psychic Warrior with Expansion or a Druid with Wild Shape).

Run up to a Wizard (IN ONE OF OUR GAMES) and tell them it's useless. They'll never think of a way to get out.

Still dimension door and freedom of movement are the core way to do it, but there are many ways... abrupt jaunt, anklet of translocation, and so on.

Honestly, the best grappler is a psion with telekinetic maneuver.  He can dispel all the pesky buffs, and grapple three people at once... with his MIND.

[wO-_-OdrOw]

Is everyone here seriously that stupid? I asked for help building an 11th level Monk, not X Monk X PrC, not for advice on how to play 3.5, not for a Wizard grappling build, not to for your thoughts and feelings on Monk as a class. I used to have a quote from my girlfriend in my sig that read "Wow these min max dudes can't read" - I should put it back in.

[carnivore]

what is the source for Githzerai that you are using

are you allowed LA buyoff?

are you looking for something like this:

Githzerai(+2 LA)

Monk 11

Feat:
Imp Unarmed Strike(Monk Bonus)
Stunning Fist(Monk Bonus)
Combat Reflexes(Monk Bonus)
1st Lvl:
3rd lvl:
6th lvl: Imp Unarmed Strike
9th lvl: Snap Kick



 

[wO-_-OdrOw]

Can't buy off the LA. No one in our group knows what LA buyoff is (except me). Looks pretty similar to what's being kicked around. There'd be 2 flaws in there and the Brawler and Aggressive traits. I just can't seem to track down any stunning fist tricks.

[Caelic]

EDIT: Nevermind.  I see that you're not interested in anything other than Monk 11.  My advice then is: play Monk 11.

Seriously, what do you want?  A list of feats?  Most of the Stunning Fist tricks require classes other than Monk.  Take Ability Focus; that's about the best it's going to get with pure Monk 11.

[wO-_-OdrOw]

Yeah, Ability Focus I had figured in. It's that and get Wisdom, I guess. Any items that will help with that or give more uses?

[Solo]

Is everyone here seriously that stupid? I asked for help building an 11th level Monk, not X Monk X PrC, not for advice on how to play 3.5, not for a Wizard grappling build, not to for your thoughts and feelings on Monk as a class. I used to have a quote from my girlfriend in my sig that read "Wow these min max dudes can't read" - I should put it back in.

I am extremely motivated to help you with useful advice.

[Caelic]

Yeah, Ability Focus I had figured in. It's that and get Wisdom, I guess. Any items that will help with that or give more uses?

Not that I can think of offhand.  Just a bit of friendly advice: if you want people to dig for obscure stuff, calling them morons every second post isn't really the best motivational tactic.